Malala began her campaign for education at age 11, blogging about life under the Taliban in Pakistan’s Swat Valley. Under the pen name “Gulmakai,” she wrote about the extremists’ ban on girls’ education. The conflict forced Malala’s father Ziauddin, a lifelong educator, to close his school. The Yousafzai family fled their home for other parts of Pakistan, living as refugees in their own country.

At age 15, while returning home on the school bus, Malala was shot in the head by the Taliban for speaking out for the rights of girls. After multiple surgeries and rehabilitation, she recovered, finished secondary school and today studies at Oxford University. As co-founder of Malala Fund, she is building a global movement of support for 12 years of girls’ education.